Tile Work

Different House, Same Address: Whole House and Kitchen Remodel in Running Man Neighborhood, Yorktown VA

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Mark Lownik grew up in the the Running Man Neighborhood of York County.  After College, his career took him to Connecticut where he met Jennifer and they started a family.  In 2015, with his parents desiring to downsize, Mark found himself contemplating moving his family from New England back to the very neighborhood and to the very home that he had grown up in.   We were referred to them in a quite round about fashion by a friend of a former client that had since moved to Florida.  The circuitous route by which they found us proved to be a perfect introduction to a great family who proved fun to work with when we helped to bring their vision of their new home to life!

Her Vision:

Mark & Jen Lownik had a unique opportunity to move back in to the house that Mark had grown up in but remodel it pursuant to a whole new vision.  Jen envisioned removing a wall in between the kitchen and the den, remodeling the kitchen, installing new hardwood floors, removing and replacing the textured ceilings with smooth ceilings, re-designing the guest bathroom, laundry room and storage room and removing and replacing the stained trim in the house with new white trim.

Always Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing:

The key element to the entire project was the kitchen.  

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The existing kitchen with openings on the left and right that limited the amount of wall space that was available for cabinetry

The cased opening between the existing kitchen and the dining room was so close to the corner of the kitchen that it did not allow for enough cabinet space.  The doorway to the laundry room at the right end of the cabinets also limited how much cabinetry could be on the adjacent wall.

The existing kitchen in the house had a wall that separated it from the den (click on thumbnails for full size) :

The Plan:

Remove the wall to create an open floor plan, move both the opening to the dining room and the door to the new pantry area to maximize the amount of wall space that was available for cabinetry.kitchen overhead

Where the wall had once existed, the view was now opened to the entire den:untitled-80

Moving the openings allowed for much more base and wall cabinets: untitled-25_6_7_Smooth

(click on thumbnails for full size)

 

Rethinking the Garage Entry:

Another area that the Lownik’s wanted  to reconfigure was the entry from the garage to the main house.  The current entry was into the laundry room that also had a spare bathroom and a storage room off of it. (click on thumbnails for full size)

The existing floor layout looked like this:

Lownik as built plan
The existing floor plan for the laundry room, bathroom storage area that connected the kitchen to the garage.

We redesigned it to look like this:

Lownik remodeled plan

Here are some of the pictures from during construction of the new pantry cabinets looking into the new bathroom area (click on thumbnails for full size) :

The Vision Realized

The final result was nothing short of a stunning transformation resulting in a completely different house at the same address.

Contrary to what Thomas Wolfe once wrote, Mark & Jen proved that you could go home again.

Stunning Kitchen Remodel in Newport News, Hidenwood Neighbood

This is a kitchen we just finished in the Hidenwood neighborhood of Newport News, near Christopher Newport University and James River Country Club.   We absolutely loved this project and our clients!  If you’re interested in the complete list of everything we did on this project it is at the end of this article.

In the meantime you can watch the video slideshow or scroll down for the larger versions of some of the pictures so that you can really see the detail in each image!

YouTube video

 

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Our Scope of Work for this Kitchen Remodel Project: 

Demolition

  1. Demolish remove and dispose of:
    1. Cabinets
      1. Existing kitchen cabinets
      2. Kitchen island
      3. Wet bar and wall cabinet
    2. Existing sink and plumbing fixtures in both kitchen and wet bar
    3. Existing countertops
    4. Existing trim on paneled walls
      1. Door casing
      2. Window casing
      3. Crown molding
      4. Baseboard
    5.  Appliances
      1. Double ovens
      2. Existing cooktops and down drafts in both island and wetbar

 HVAC

  1. Move HVAC register under toe-kick in base cabinet near dishwasher
  2. Run new gas line to new cooktop location

Plumbing

  1. Adjust plumbing supply and drain lines as necessary for kitchen sink and hook up new sink drain, attach disposal, hook up faucet, and attach dish washer drain line
  2. Furnish and install new customer selected kitchen sink and faucet
    1. KITCHEN FAUCET – quoted from Ferguson $209.62
      • LF 1HDL PO KITC FCT ARST 1.5 GPM
    2. Furnish and install new customer selected wet bar sink and faucet
      1. BAR FAUCETS -quoted from Ferguson $311.50
        • LF ALLEGRO BAR FCT 1.5 GPM
      2. Hook up dishwasher supply line
      3. Re-route ice maker supply line to new refrigerator location and hook up.
      4. Garbage disposal will be replaced.
      5. Sinks:
        1. Stainless steel sink at wet bar
        2. Blanco Silgranit ll 1 3/4 Bowl Low Divide Anthracite for kitchen sink

Electrical

  1. Provide electrical demo as necessary.
  2. Wire for duel fuel range in new location.
  3. Wire for new range hood in new location.
  4. Relocate refrigerator outlet.
  5. Wire for dish washer in new location.
  6. Wire for garbage disposal in new location controlled by switch.
  7. Furnish and install four six inch recessed lights in same locations as existing four inch cans, to be controlled by dimmer switch.
  8. Furnish and install five LED under cabinet lights controlled by one switch.
  9. Install two new GFCI protected receptacles in kitchen island.
  10. Install two customer supplied pendant lights controlled by two three way dimmer switches.
    1. Remove ceiling fan in den and replace with one ceiling mounted pendant with multiple hanging lights ( Fizz -5 lights) over the eating island
    2. Replace light fixture over sink with George Kovaks – single mount with 5 hanging lights
  11. Furnish and install One three inch recessed light in glass cabinet controlled by one switch.
  12. Relocate receptacle in bar area to new location.
  13. Relocate recessed light over bar to center of bar area.
  14. Demo wiring and switch for whole house fan.
  15. Replace light fixture in den with light fixture in kitchen

 

Finishes

  1. Walls:
    1. Install drywall walls over the existing paneling in the kitchen area.
    2. Repair drywall in den where electrician needs to cut existing drywall to change light fixtures and run wire.
    3. On new drywall walls: Trim interior of doors, windows, and walls with new stained:
      1. Door & window casing
      2. Base Board
      3. Crown molding
  1. Floors:
    1. Repair hardwood floor where hvac register has been removed.
    2. Repair area around island
    3. Re-set toilet
    4. Sand and finish hardwood floors in kitchen area to extend to the garage door and bathroom (inside the decorative detail in the floor)
    5. Install 3 layers of poly on sanded floor and 1 layer on existing shoe molding.

   Kitchen Cabinets:

  1. Kitchen: furnish and install customer selected cabinets – refer to attached drawing for cabinet layout
    1. 42” wall cabinets with crown molding
    2. Aristokraft Cabinetry, All Plywood Construction, Soft Close Full Extension Dovetail Drawers
    3. Teagan Doorstyle, Maple, White Paint Finish
  1. Blind Corner “Cloud” Pullout Storage Unit in Corner by Kitchen Sink
  2. Spice Rack Storage in Wall Cabinet to Left of Hood
  3. Pegboard Storage to Left of Stove; Tray Storage to Right of Stove
  • 24” Deep Panels on each Side of the Refrigerator, and a 24” Deep Cabinet Above (for built-in look)
  • Rollout Shelves in One Island Cabinet, Double Trash Bin in the Other Island Cabinet
  1. Rollout Shelves in Cabinets by Stove
  2. Drawer Base by Dishwasher
  3. Microwave Cabinet on Right of Hood
  • Baseboard Molding to be Used at Base of Island, Wet Bar, and Island Table
  • Flush Contemporary Molding to be Used as Crown Molding
  • Berenson Hardware for All Doors and Drawers – Item #9234-1BPN-P
  1. Glass Doors and Shelves for Wall Cabinet over Bar Sink
  • Glass Shelf Mounted to Granite Top in Wet Bar Area
  • Stainless Steel Undermount Bar Sink
  • New Aristokraft Cabinetry Doors for Existing Pantry Cabinet by Doorway
  • Cabinet & hardware material cost: $19,005.04

Kitchen Counter tops –

  1. Install new Black Pearl Leather Granite (Kitchen Island Tops and Wet Bar)
  2. Altea Vicostone (Perimeter Counter Tops)
  3. Backsplash
    1. Install tiled backsplash under the wall cabinets in kitchen and wet bar
    2. Schluter edging system – Brushed Stainless Steel EB
      1. 9’ of edging on backsplash outside terminations
        1. On the side by the entrance to the kitchen
        2. On both sides of the wetbar
        3. Along the top edge of the tile at wetbar where there is no wall cabinet
        4. 2’ of outside corner on the wetbar backsplash

Paint

  1. Paint all walls, trim and ceiling in kitchen area. (Estimated for a neutral color: 2 coats. Bolder colors may include more coats)
  2. Paint ceiling in Den

 Stain

  1. Stain all new door & window casing
  2. Stain all new baseboard
  3. Stain all new crown molding trim
  4. Stain new T-111 siding replaced on roofing & siding repair.

Skylight in kitchen

  1. 21” x 46” Velux skylight will be installed
  2. Skylight tunnel will be framed from roof deck down to ceiling of kitchen.
  3. New drywall will be installed for walls of skylight tunnel
  4. Drywall will be painted

Sun Tunnel in hallway

  1. Sun Tunnel – Remove house fan and install 14” sun tunnel
  2. Includes painting hallway

Roof repairs on chimney

  1. Remove shingles, flashing and T-111 siding on rear slope of garage where roof meets sided wall
  2. Install new ½ cricket in dead valley area to prevent ponding water
  3. Install new shingles and flashing along chimney, cricket and wall
  4. Install new T-111 siding in repair area
  5. Stain new siding to match

Bathroom Remodel with Walk-In Shower in Yorktown Virginia

Our clients in Yorktown were ready for a change with their Master Bathroom.   They had originally designed the bathroom they had when they built the house in 1988, but over the years found that some of their needs had changed.

"Before" Picture showing vanity, soaking tub and shower
“Before” Picture showing vanity, soaking tub and shower

They no longer seemed to ever use the large soaking tub.  The shower was small and after 27 years the large step up into it (and out of it) seems a bit more precarious than it used to.

"Before" shot of shower that was too small with a large step to get in and out of
“Before” shot of shower that was too small with a large step to get in and out of

They had encountered the idea of a walk-in shower when on vacation while staying at a premium resort.   They asked us if we could build them one.

We removed the shower, the wall and the soaking tub and  went to work. The results speak for themselves!   The new shower is 7 feet long and 3.5 feet wide – that’s a foot wider than the standard home’s shower and 2 feet longer!  The controls are just inside the opening so that the owners can turn on and adjust the water without having to walk down to the end and get wet.  It has both a rain head and a multi-function hand-held shower head on a slide bar.  There is a half wall with a glass splash guard to allow the light to enter the bathing area.  The glass sits on a granite cap that was cut from the same piece of granite that the vanity top was cut from.

"After" Picture of walk in shower
“After” Picture of walk in shower

In addition to tiled niches in the walls for shower accessories it has two seats cut on a radius from the same piece of granite that the new vanity top and the cap on top of the half wall came from.

"After" picture of tiled walk in shower, half wall with glass and granite top on vanity.
“After” picture of tiled walk in shower, half wall with glass and granite top on vanity.

The floor was re-tiled.  A small custom made set of shelves was made for linen storage and placed at the opening of the shower area under the window.  The vanity was replaced.  The new vanity sports a new granite vanity top with undermount porcelain sinks.  The owners decided to change the one large vanity mirror to two smaller framed one with their own vanity lamps.  Only the toilet was re-used.

"After" Picture of new vanity with granite top, half wall with glass sitting on granite cap
“After” Picture of new vanity with granite top, half wall with glass sitting on granite cap

After the bathroom was painted, the owner changed her mind and had us repaint with another color.  It’s an owner’s prerogative to change their mind 🙂

"Before" Picture of worn vanity with acrylic top
“Before” Picture of worn vanity with acrylic top
"After" Picture of new vanity with granite top, new mirrors and new lamps
“After” Picture of new vanity with granite top, new mirrors and new lamps
"Before" Picture of vanity with acrylic top, toilet and tile floor
“Before” Picture of vanity with acrylic top, toilet and tile floor
"After" picture of toilet that was re-used, new tile floor, new vanity with granite top, new mirrors and vanity lamps
“After” picture of toilet that was re-used, new tile floor, new vanity with granite top, new mirrors and vanity lamps